KARACHI, March 7: A doctor was shot dead in Lyari on Thursday morning.

Police said Dr Muzaffar Ali Samoo, aged 40, was returning home in his car (ABE-252) after dropping his children at school and his teacher wife at college, when two unidentified young men, riding on a motorcycle, sprayed him with bullets near Ali Hotel on Shah Abdul Latif Road in Baghdadi.

He died on the spot. The body was taken to Civil Hospital for post-mortem. Within a week, Dr Samoo was the second doctor to fall victim to targeted killing in the city.

The assailants escaped into the densely-populated locality of Baghdadi without facing any resistance from personnel of law-enforcement agencies.

Sources at the hospital said the doctor received three bullets in his neck and his chest.

Police said the doctor was RMO at the Psychiatry Ward in Lyari General Hospital, and he also ran his private clinic, Adeel Clinic, on the ground floor of the apartment building in Shah Baig Lane, Baghdadi, where he resided.

A case against unknown assailants was registered at Baghdadi police station.

After the killing, tension griped the area and shops and other businesses opened late.

In another incident, a caretaker of an Imambargah and a shopkeeper were wounded in an attack on M. A. Jinnah Road in the early morning on Thursday.

Police said Sibte Hasan, aged 45, with his children, was waiting for schoolvan below Taj Medical Complex, when unidentified armed men, riding on a motorcycle, sprayed him with bullets and fled the scene.

Police said as Sibte Hasan, who was standing close to a general store, fell to the ground, Mohammed Ishaq, who was inside the store, came to help him and suffered a bullet wound to his leg.

Both the injured men were rushed to Civil Hospital where Ishaq was admitted. Hasan was later shifted to Aga Khan Hospital.

Hasan was stated to be in critical condition as he had received three bullets in his abdomen, police said. He was a caretaker of Imambargah Ali Raza situated on M. A. Jinnah Road.

Since January, five doctors and at least six others have fallen victim to targeted killings in the city.

Dr Alay Safdar Zaidi, aged 40, was shot dead on Monday in Defence. He had been working as a consultant nephrologist at the Kidney Centre for the past eight months. He was going to work in his car (ABU-495) after dropping his child at school when the incident occurred. He had returned from the USA after 10 years.

Maulana Sanaullah Darkhwasti, aged 40, was shot dead on Jan 3. Two unidentified assailants opened fire on him when he was returning from a mosque in North Karachi in the police limits of Surjani where he was a prayer leader.

Syed Hasan Ali, aged 53, a superintendent of the Regional Transport Authority, was shot dead by two unknown assailants in Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Block 13-D on Jan 9. The assailants were riding on a motorcycle.

After the banning of several religious extremist parties and organizations, targeted killings stopped for a few weeks. The brief interlude ended with the killing of Syed Jawwad Ali Rizvi in Defence on Jan 9.

A retired official of a private insurance company, Syed Jawwad Ali Rizvi, aged 60, died and his associate, Syed Zamarud Husain Jafri, aged 57, was wounded when they were ambushed by two unidentified men riding on a motorcycle. The late Jawwad Ali and Zamarud Jafri were returning in their vehicle (AB-8036) after offering Maghribain prayer at Imambargah Baqiatullah situated on Khayaban-i-Sahar. Jawwad Ali is survived by only a daughter.

Syed Zamarud Husain is among the trustees of Imambargah Baqiatullah.

Sajid Ali Humsheray, aged 40, was shot dead on Feb 4. He was sitting in his Humsheray Bakery at Kharadar when two unidentified assailants barged into the shop and sprayed him with bullets. The late Humsheray was among the trustees of Imambargah Husainian Iranian.

On Feb 3, Dr Faisal Rafiq Khan, aged 30, a dental surgeon at Aga Khan Hospital, was shot dead. The unidentified assailants dumped his body near the Old Haji Camp in Kalakot area. The late surgeon had left his Clifton residence in the evening, and he was later kidnapped and killed. His father identified him in the Edhi’s Morgue the next day.

Dr Fayyaz Karim, aged 45, a doctor at Civil Hospital, was shot dead in New Karachi on Feb 4. He was coming out from Majid-i-Ibrahim Khalilullah in New Karachi after offering prayers when he was gunned down by unidentified assailants.

Witnesses said the assailants were waiting for their target at a short distance from the mosque on a motorcycle.

A shopkeeper, Syed Azad Husain Zaidi, aged 50, was shot dead on Feb 11.

Unknown assailants struck at Pak-Iranian Tea shop on Shahrah-i-Iraq in Saddar killing the shopkeeper, Mohammed Ramazan, and wounding two others.

According to witnesses, a police mobile hurriedly left the place when firing started at the shop.

The third doctor to killed during the year was Dr Syed Rashid Mehdi. He was killed on Feb 13. He was the third doctor to be killed this year.

Dr Mehdi, aged 40, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Mominabad, Orangi Town. He was coming out of Faizur Rahman Hospital after completing his duty. As he approached his car, the assailants shot him and fled the scene.

The doctor received two bullets in his head and he died on the spot.

According to the Pakistan Medical Association, more than 73 doctors have been killed in the past two years in targeted killings in Karachi.

In protest against the killing of Dr Safdar Zaidi, the PMA held a demonstration outside Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, March 6, during which they demanded an immediate end to these killings.